Mark Bowstead

Consistency has been the name of the game for Mark Bowstead over a number of years as a professional triathlete.

Bowstead was a regular top-10 finisher over several years at middle distance after turning pro , and he claimed a 70.3 victory at Buffalo Springs Lake in 2015 to add to third-place finishes at Geelong and Boulder in the same year.

He eventually made his full IRONMAN debut in 2016 in his home country of New Zealand, creeping into the top 10 in the process, and later claimed a podium with third at IRONMAN Australia in 2018.

Mark more recently notched a personal best time of 8:16:13 as he finished seventh in New Zealand in March 2020.

“I was proud of myself and the effort I put in; proud to represent an awesome and supportive team; proud to race alongside a great bunch of athletes (especially the Kiwis; they are all top blokes); and proud of the athletes I coach,” the Pewag team member said of that PB on Facebook.

Not only is Mark a professional triathlete, he made the transition from amateur in 2012, but since March 2017 he has also been a personal coach with Foot Traffic Coaching.

Since then he has guided many age-group athletes to personal best times, national titles and qualification for the World Championship.

Mark’s own triathlon journey began when he was 11, initially in a bid to lose weight before he went to college. He was a keen computer gamer and had put on a few kilos as a result.

However, he became more and more addicted to the sport during his chemical and material engineering studies at the University of Auckland. So, after a series of amateur wins, he decided he wanted to turn professional.

Mark also opted to finish his degree, to provide a back-up in case triathlon didn’t work out. The decision paid off when he graduated with first-class honours in 2011.

After concentrating initially on 70.3 races, he made that switch to full distance as well, and he hasn’t looked back since.